Mt Mugga Mugga

Mt Mugga Mugga

Scribbly Gums Eucalyptus rossii

Near the summit

Golden Wattle- Australia's floral emblem- Acacia pycnantha

It smells good too

Drooping She-oak Allocasuarina verticillata

Blakely's Red Gum Eucalyptus blakelyi

Views east down to Callum Brae

An Echidna was here Tachyglossus aculeatus at a Meat Ant's nest Iridomyrmex purpureus

Spot the Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans

Stony Creek Views

A stand of Scribbly Gums Eucalyptus rossii with Murrumbidgee River in view.

The Scribbly's with Mt McDonald behind

The next stand along the track are the Red Stringybarks Eucalyptus macrorhyncha

Clear delineation between Nature Reserve and farmland. Recovering Grass Trees Xanthorrhoea australis in the foreground.

Common Browns Heteronympha merope were everywhere today. This is a female.

This once enormous tree now just a thin strip of outer shell, still standing.

View to Mt Dowling and into NSW

Mt McDonald

Cough Bush Cassinia quinquefaria

Cassinia spp

Red Stringybark flower Eucalyptus macrorhyncha

Dead Cristmas Beetles signalling the end of summer Anoplognathus spp

Silver Wattle pod Acacia dealbata

Chalcopterus Beetle Chalcopteroides spp

The Scribbly Gums were so yellow today Eucalyptus rossii

Pretty Scribbly Gum/ Red Stringybark forest

Mt Cohen

Red-leaf Wattle Acacia rubida  

Ploughshare Wattle Acacia gunnii, low shrub with pale early flowers, spiky wedge shaped leaf

My first Early Nancy Wurmbea dioicia this spring - growing right on the border

Scribbly gum Eucalyptus rossii was dominant in the non-pine areas

A few markers along the ACT border- this was my favourite clearly showing "CT" which may mean Commonwealth Territory- uncertain.

Some other border markers

Mt Cohen Trig- just to show I was there

Views

Two-tailed Spider

A white two-tailed spider Tamopsis sp. These spiders have very long spinnerets, hence the name. They live on tree trunks and capture prey in a small web on the tree surface.

On the same tree, another slightly larger Two-tailed Spider. This one has browner markings that camouflage well with the scribbles on the Scribbly gum Eucalyptus rossii.

The scribbles themselves are burrow marks left by the larvae of the Scribbly-gum Moth Ogmograptis scribula.

Warrumbungles

A cycad, possibly Macrozamia heteromera

Closeup of the leaves

And the cone

Kangaroo Thorn Acacia paradoxa with flower buds

Ruby Urn-heath Melichrus erubescens with flower buds

Common Maidenhair Fern Adiantum aethiopicum

Belougery Spire

One of the many views. From this viewpoint could be heard the constant bleating of feral goats and a tree crashing down.  There were many signs warning about falling trees due to a big fire in the park in 2013.

The Breadknife. White trees in the foreground are Scribbly Gum Eucalyptus rossii, known in this area as White Gums.